We extend linear input/output (resolvent) analysis to take into account nonlinear triadic interactions by considering a finite number of harmonics in the frequency domain using the harmonic balance method. Forcing mechanisms that maximize the drag are calculated using a gradient-based ascent algorithm. By including nonlinearity in the analysis, the proposed frequency-domain framework identifies the worst-case disturbances for laminar-turbulent transition. We demonstrate the framework on a flat-plate boundary layer by considering three-dimensional spanwise-periodic perturbations triggered by a few optimal forcing modes of finite amplitude. Two types of volumetric forcing are considered, one corresponding to a single frequency/spanwise-wavenumber pair, and a multi-harmonic where a harmonic frequency and wavenumber are also added. Depending on the forcing strategy, we recover a range of transition scenarios associated with K-type and H-type mechanisms, including oblique and Tollmien-Schlichting waves, streaks and their breakdown. We show that nonlinearity plays a critical role in optimizing growth by combining and redistributing energy between the linear mechanisms and the higher perturbation harmonics. With a very limited range of frequencies and wavenumbers, the calculations appear to reach the early stages of the turbulent regime through the generation and breakdown of hairpin and quasi-streamwise staggered vortices.
The effect of the wind of Rayleigh-Benard convection on the boundary layers is studied by direct numerical simulation of an L/H=4 aspect-ratio domain with periodic side boundary conditions for Ra={10^5, 10^6, 10^7} and Pr=1. It is shown that the kinetic boundary layers on the top- and bottom plate have some features of both laminar and turbulent boundary layers. A continuous spectrum, as well as significant forcing due to Reynolds stresses indicates undoubtedly a turbulent character, whereas the classical integral boundary layer parameters -- the shape factor and friction factor (the latter is…
This video shows three-dimensional contours at two different values of enstrophy for a turbulent boundary layer up to $Re_θ\simeq 2500$. Its intention is to show how, what can be be considered the turbulent/nonturbulent interface for a turbulent boundary layer, evolves in time. Keyword: fluid dynamics video
Dependence of boundary layer thickness on layer height in laminar and transient regimes is studied for convection from localised heat source with an open surface. The measurements of Nusselt number and characteristic frequency of thermal plume formation are done for a wide range of Rayleigh number, different Prandtl numbers and different aspect ratios. The obtained results prove that for the developed (but not turbulent) convective flow the boundary layer thickness is almost independent of the layer height and it is mainly defined by applied temperature difference and physical properties of th…
Wang and Castillo have developed empirical parameters for scaling the temperature profile of the turbulent boundary layer flowing over a heated wall in the paper X. Wang and L. Castillo, J. Turbul., 4, 1(2003). They presented experimental data plots that showed similarity type behavior when scaled with their new scaling parameters. However, what was actually plotted, and what actually showed similarity type behavior, was not the temperature profile but the defect profile formed by subtracting the temperature in the boundary layer from the temperature in the bulk flow. We show that if the same …
In this paper, the solutions of Navier-Stokes equations with Dirichlet boundary conditions governing 2-D incompressible fluid flows are considered. A condition for boundary layer separation, which is determined by initial values and external forces, is obtained. More importantly, the condition can predict directly when and where boundary layer separation will occur. The main technical tool is geometric theory of incompressible flows developed by T. Ma and S.Wang.
The power laws in the overlap region of two layer theory of turbulent boundary layer have been obtained by Izakson-Millikan-Kolmogorov hypothesis. The solution of the open functional equation is not unique. The power laws for velocity \& skin friction have equivalence with log laws for velocity \& skin friction, for large Reynolds numbers.
Axisymmetric boundary layers are studied using integral analysis of the governing equations for axial flow over a circular cylinder. The analysis includes the effect of pressure gradient and focuses on the effect of transverse curvature on boundary layer parameters such as shape factor ($H$) and skin-friction coefficient ($C_f$), defined as $H = δ^*/θ$ and $C_f = τ_w/(0.5ρU_e^2)$ respectively, where $δ^*$ is displacement thickness, $θ$ is momentum thickness, $τ_w$ is the shear stress at the wall, $ρ$ is density and $U_e$ is the streamwise velocity at the edge of the boundary layer. Relations a…
Direct numerical simulations are performed to contrast turbulent boundary layers over a concave wall without and with free-stream turbulence. Adverse pressure gradient near the onset of curvature leads to sharp decrease in skin friction and intermittent separation. The presence of free-stream turbulence reduces the probability of reverse flow, accelerates the recovery of the boundary layer in the downstream zero-pressure gradient region, and leads to a sustained and appreciable increase in the skin friction. The forcing also promotes the amplification of coherent Görtler structures in the loga…
The turbulent boundary layer over a flat plate is computed by direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations as a test bed for a synthetic turbulence generator (STG) inflow boundary condition. The inlet momentum thickness Reynolds number is approximately 1,000. The study provides validation of the ability of the STG to develop accurate turbulence in 5 to 7 boundary layer thicknesses downstream of the boundary condition. Also tested was the effect of changes in the stabilization scheme on the development of the boundary layer. Moreover, the grid resolution requi…
In this paper we present a new kind of boundary layer flow produced by an electromagnetic Lorentz force which acts parallel to the plate in an electrically conductive fluid. The plate is motionless and the ambient fluid stagnant. This flow is equivalent to the classical free convective flow along a vertical plate. The boundary layer equations are transformed to non-dimensional form and a new dimensionless number is introduced which is equivalent to the Grashof number. The transformed boundary layer equations are solved with the finite difference method and the presented results include values …
A combined experimental and numerical study of the boundary layer in a 4:1 aspect-ratio Rayleigh-Bénard cell over a four-decade range of Rayleigh numbers has been undertaken aimed at gaining a better insight into the character of the boundary layers. The experiments involved the simultaneous Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) measurements of fluid velocity at two locations, i.e. in the boundary layer and far away from it in the bulk, for Rayleigh numbers varying between $1.6 \times 10^7$ and $2.4 \times 10^9$. In parallel, direct numerical simulations (DNS) have been performed for the same configu…
This paper describes an experimental investigation, by means of hot-wire anemometry, of the characteristics of velocity and temperature in a rotating turbulent boundary layer under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. The ranges of experimental parameters are: Reynolds number from 10000 to 25000, rotational speed from 0 to 150 rpm, and y+ from 1.8 to 100. The relative temperature difference is held constant at 0.1. Detailed velocity and temperature distributions in the boundary layer are measured in the rotating state, and a new criterion for boundary layer segmentation under rotation is …
We investigate the instabilities and transition mechanisms of Boussinesq stratified boundary layers on sloping boundaries when subjected to oscillatory body forcing parallel to the slope. Such conditions are typical of the boundary layers generated by low wavenumber internal tides sloshing up and down adiabatic abyssal slopes in the absence of mean flows, high wavenumber internal tides, and resonant tide-bathymetry interactions. We examine flows within a region of non-dimensional parameter space typical of the mid- to low-latitude oceanic $M_2$ tides on hydraulically smooth abyssal slopes by d…
A problem of great concern in aviation and submarine propulsion is the control of the boundary layer and, in particular, the methods to extend the laminar region as a means to decrease noise and fuel consumption. In this paper we study the flow of air along an airfoil when a layer of ionized gas and a longitudinal electric field are created in the boundary layer region. By deriving scaling solutions and more accurate numerical solutions we discuss the possibility of achieving significant boundary layer control for realistic physical parameters. Practical design formulas and criteria are obtain…
We present a fluid dynamics video which illustrates the dynamics of the velocity field in the boundary layer in a turbulent Rayleigh-Benard convection flow. The data are obtained from direct numerical simulation.
Results on the Prandtl-Blasius type kinetic and thermal boundary layer thicknesses in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a broad range of Prandtl numbers are presented. By solving the laminar Prandtl-Blasius boundary layer equations, we calculate the ratio of the thermal and kinetic boundary layer thicknesses, which depends on the Prandtl number Pr only. It is approximated as $0.588Pr^{-1/2}$ for $Pr\ll Pr^*$ and as $0.982 Pr^{-1/3}$ for $Pr^*\ll\Pr$, with $Pr^*= 0.046$. Comparison of the Prandtl--Blasius velocity boundary layer thickness with that evaluated in the direct numerical simula…
The structure of the boundary layers in turbulent Rayleigh-Benard convection is studied by means of three-dimensional direct numerical simulations. We consider convection in a cylindrical cell at an aspect ratio one for Rayleigh numbers of Ra=3e+9 and 3e+10 at fixed Prandtl number Pr=0.7. Similar to the experimental results in the same setup and for the same Prandtl number, the structure of the laminar boundary layers of the velocity and temperature fields is found to deviate from the prediction of the Prandtl-Blasius-Pohlhausen theory. Deviations decrease when a dynamical rescaling of the dat…
Time-dependent visualisations of large-scale direct and large-eddy simulations (DNS and LES) of a turbulent boundary layer reaching up to $Re_θ=4300$ are presented. The focus of the present fluid dynamics video is on analysing the coherent vortical structures in the boundary layer: It is clearly shown that hairpin vortices are indeed present in the simulation data, however they are characteristic remainders of the laminar-turbulent transition at lower Reynolds numbers. At higher $Re$ (say $Re_θ>2000$), these structures are no longer seen as being dominant; the coherence is clearly lost, both i…
The flow properties at the leading edge of a flat plate represent a singularity to the Blasius laminar boundary layer equations; by applying the Lagrangian approach the leading edge velocity profiles of the laminar boundary layer over a flat plate are studied. Experimental observations as well as the theoretical analysis show an exact Gaussian distribution curve as the original starting profile of the laminar flow. Comparisons between the Blasius solution and the Gaussian curve solution are carried out providing a new insight into the physics of the laminar flow.
The problem of a steady forced convection thermal boundary-layer past a flat plate with a prescribed surface heat flux is investigated both analytically and numerically. In view of the present formulation, the governing equations reduce to the well-know Blasius similarity equation and to the full boundary-layer energy equation with two parameters: Prandtl number and surface heat flux parameter. The range of existence of solutions is considered. The asymptotic solutions are derived and compared with the numerical solutions of the full boundary-layer equation. A very good agreement between these…
Using the flow governing equation approach to similarity, Weyburne (D. Weyburne, arXiv:1701.02364, 2016) recently showed that for 2-D turbulent boundary layer flows, the Prandtl Plus scalings are NOT, in general, the proper similarity scaling parameters. Based on that failure, Weyburne proposed alternative length and velocity scaling parameters that satisfy the flow governing approach to similarity for external turbulent boundary layer flows. Herein, we show that both the proposed new scalings and the Prandtl Plus scalings have a theoretical underpinning which requires that the boundary layer …
We perform direct numerical simulations of shock-wave/boundary-layer interactions (SBLI) at Mach number M = 1.7 to investigate the influence of the state of the incoming boundary layer on the interaction properties. We reproduce and extend the flow conditions of the experiments performed by Giepman et al., in which a spatially evolving laminar boundary layer over a flat plate is initially tripped by an array of distributed roughness elements and impinged further downstream by an oblique shock wave. Four SBLI cases are considered, based on two different shock impingement locations along the str…
In this fluid dynamics video, recent simulations of transition to turbulence in compressible (M = 0.2), zero-pressure-gradient flat-plate boundary layers triggered by fundamental (Klebanoff K-type) and subharmonic (Herbert H-type) secondary instabilities of Tollmien-Schlichting waves are highlighted.
This paper develops a spatial input-output approach to investigate the dynamics of a turbulent boundary layer subject to a localized single frequency excitation. This method uses one-way spatial integration to reformulate the problem in terms of spatial evolution equations. The technique is used to examine the effect of localized periodic actuation at a given temporal frequency, based on an experimental set-up in which an active large-scale is introduced into the outer layer of a turbulent boundary layer. First, the large-scale structures associated with the phase-locked modal velocity field o…
A global approach leading to a self-consistent solution to the Navier-Stokes-Prandtl equations for zero-pressure-gradient boundary layers is presented. It is shown that as $Re_δ\rightarrow \infty$, the dynamically defined boundary layer thickness $δ(x)\propto x/\ln^{2}Re_{x}$ and the skin friction $λ=\frac{2τ_{w}}{ρU_{0}^{2}}\propto 1/\ln^{2}δ(x)$. Here $τ_{w}$ and $U_{0}$ are the wall shear stress and free stream velocity, respectively. The theory is formulated as an expansion in powers of a small dimensionless parameter $\frac{dδ(x)}{dx}\rightarrow 0$ in the limit $x\rightarrow \infty$.
The problem of disturbed flow in the laminar boundary layer is investigated when a heating element is located on the surface of the body. The flow is supposed to be laminar one. It is shown that the problem may be solved in terms of free interaction theory. The solution of linear flat problem is constructed. The results of asymptotic analysis are also presented.
We study a boundary layer problem for the Navier-Stokes-alpha model obtaining a generalization of the Prandtl equations conjectured to represent the averaged flow in a turbulent boundary layer. We solve the equations for the semi-infinite plate, both theoretically and numerically. The latter solutions agree with some experimental data in the turbulent boundary layer.
In this study, we utilize a novel approach to solve the Ekman equations for eddy viscosity profiles in the stable boundary layer. By doing so, a well-known expression for the stable boundary layer height by Zilitinkevich (Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 1972, Vol. 3, 141--145) is rediscovered.
In this short review it is suggested that the relationship between third- and fourth-order moments of turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer depends on stability. This can explain some differences among datasets, and provides a key point for modelling improvement.
Boundary layer turbulence in coastal regions differs from that in deep ocean because of bottom interactions. In this paper, we focus on the merging of surface and bottom boundary layers in a finite-depth coastal ocean by numerically solving the wave-averaged equations using a large eddy simulation method. The ocean fluid is driven by combined effects of wind stress, surface wave, and a steady current in the presence of stable vertical stratification. The resulting flow consists of two overlapping boundary layers, i.e. surface and bottom boundary layers, separated by an interior stratification.…
We introduce an elementary model of a turbulent boundary layer over a flat surface, given as a vertical random distribution of spanwise Lamb-Oseen vortex configurations placed over a non-slip boundary condition line. We are able to reproduce several important features of realistic flows, such as the viscous and logarithmic boundary sublayers, and the general behavior of the first statistical moments (turbulent intensity, skewness and flatness) of the streamwise velocity fluctuations. As an application, we advance some heuristic considerations on the boundary layer underlying kinematics that co…
Subcritical transition to turbulence in spatially developing boundary layer flows can be triggered efficiently by finite amplitude perturbations. In this work, we employ adjoint-based optimization to identify optimal initial perturbations in the Blasius boundary layer, culminating in the computation of the subcritical transition critical energy threshold and the associated fully localized critical optimum in a spatially extended configuration, the so called minimal seed. By dynamically rescaling the variables with the local boundary layer thickness, we show that the identified edge trajectory …
The interaction between extratropical cyclones and the underlying boundary layer has been a topic of recent discussion in papers by Adamson et. al. (2006) and Beare (2007). Their results emphasise different mechanisms through which the boundary layer dynamics may modify the growth of a baroclinic cyclone. By using different sea-surface temperature distributions and comparing the low-level winds, the differences are exposed and both of the proposed mechanisms appear to be acting within a single simulation.
Turbulent boundary layers exhibit a universal structure which nevertheless is rather complex, being composed of a viscous sub-layer, a buffer zone, and a turbulent log-law region. In this letter we present a simple analytic model of turbulent boundary layers which culminates in explicit formulae for the profiles of the mean velocity, the kinetic energy and the Reynolds stress as a function of the distance from the wall. The resulting profiles are in close quantitative agreement with measurements over the entire structure of the boundary layer, without any need of re-fitting in the different zo…
The flow of the laminar boundary layer on a flat plate is studied with simulation of Navier-Stokes equations. The mechanisms of flow instability at external edge of the boundary layer and near the wall are analyzed using the energy gradient theory. The simulation results show that there is an overshoot on the velocity profile at the external edge of the boundary layer. At this overshoot, the energy gradient function is very large which results in instability according to the energy gradient theory. It is found that the transverse gradient of the total mechanical energy is responsible for the i…
We investigate the incompressible and compressible heat conducting boundary layer with applying the two-dimensional self-similar Ansatz. Analytic solutions can be found for the incompressible case which can be expressed with special functions. The parameter dependencies are studied and discussed in details. In the last part of our study we present the ordinary differential equation (ODE) system which is obtained for compressible boundary layers.
In this paper, we use various ansatzes with undetermined functions and the technique of moving frame to find solutions with parameter functions modulo the Lie point symmetries for the classical non-steady boundary layer problems. These parameter functions enable one to find the solutions of some related practical models and boundary value problems.
We find actual evidence, relying upon vorticity time series taken in a high Reynolds number atmospheric experiment, that to a very good approximation the surface boundary layer flow may be described, in a statistical sense and under certain regimes, as an advected ensemble of homogeneous turbulent systems, characterized by a lognormal distribution of fluctuating intensities. Our analysis suggests that usual direct numerical simulations of homogeneous and isotropic turbulence, performed at moderate Reynolds numbers, may play an important role in the study of turbulent boundary layer flows, if s…
